Police briefs: Salinas Fire Department probes towing company fire

The Salinas Fire Department is conducting an arson investigation after 10 vehicles at a towing company were damaged by fire late Tuesday.

Police and firefighters responded to R&R Towing at 320 Commission St. about 11:45 p.m. and found the vehicles engulfed in flames. Two vehicles were destroyed.

Firefighters had no further information late Wednesday.

SALINAS

Three men arrested as carjacking suspects

Three men were arrested after a carjacking at Tuscany Way and Canelli Court about 10 p.m. Tuesday, Salinas police said.

An officer spotted the stolen Mazda 3 and was following the car when the men got out and ran at Circle and Eucalyptus drives. They were found after a search of the area and identified by the car's owner, who wasn't injured, police said.

A gun was found in a yard on nearby Linden Street, and one suspect had the victim's wallet, police said.

A 35-year-old Castroville man was arrested about 8:15 a.m. Wednesday after a search of his residence turned up gun and drug paraphernalia, sheriff's deputies said.

Gang Task Force officers and agents with the U.S. Marshall's Fugitive Apprehension Team found a sawed off shotgun, ammunition, body armor and drug paraphernalia at the residence in the 13000 block of Cielo Azul, deputies said.

Art Marquez, a Norteño gang member, was wanted on several outstanding warrants, deputies said. He was booked into Monterey County Jail on gang and gun-related charges.

CASTROVILLE

Man arrested on domestic violence charge

A 27-year-old Castroville man was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence after allegedly trying to choke a woman shortly after midnight Wednesday.

The victim reported that during an argument in a trailer in the 13000 block of Brisa Del Mar, Adam Torres took away her cellphone as she tried to call 911 and stabbed the bedroom wall repeatedly with a folding pocket knife, sheriff's deputies said.

As the victim tried to escape, he threw her to the ground and began choking her, deputies said. Neighbors began pounding on a connecting wall, distracting the suspect and allowing the victim to escape, deputies said. The victim sustained scratches and bruises, deputies said.

Torres fled but was later found and arrested, deputies said. He was booked into Monterey County Jail.